Canvas books wrap: Notes on Womanhood by Sarah Jane Barnett, The Wrong Woman by J.P. Pomare, and more

Sarah Jane Barnett.

How do we articulate our changing bodies? In her new book on womanhood, Sarah Jane Barnett confronts body positivity, menopause, child-rearing and Western beauty standards across seven meaty essays. Elsewhere, discover J.P. Pomare's hot new crime thriller, and meet Marie Cardno, author of witchy rom-coms. Happy reading.

BOOKS IN REVIEW

Notes on Womanhood by Sarah Jane Barnett (Otago University Press, $30). Reviewed by Eleanor Black.

In her personal reflection on what it means to be a middle-aged woman in Aotearoa today, Sarah Jane Barnett traverses rich and interesting territory. She undergoes a hysterectomy and so loses her ability to have children, a foundational pillar of womanhood for many. Menopause brings physical changes which are both confronting and surprisingly comforting. Barnett's father Nikki comes out as transgender, undergoing an awkward late-in-life adolescent period of adjustment and exploration.

Barnett writes eloquently, with intelligence and sensitivity. She is widely read, drawing on the work of gender theorists, feminists, historians, journalists, anthropologists, novelists and other thinkers; and making interesting connections between them. Underpinning her analysis, though, is the emotion of being a woman in a changing body. One of many relatable passages concerns a winter jacket that suddenly feels small in the shoulders. Barnett secrets herself away from her family, unpicks the lining and re-sews it to accommodate her bigger body. She is ashamed.

"My hypocrisy became clear," she writes. "It had been easy to be 'body positive' when I lived in a thin young body. Had my beliefs been false? How could I be so treacherous? All I knew was that the ill-fitting coat was somehow my failure."

Elsewhere in this collection of seven meaty essays, Barnett writes about becoming the de facto main caregiver for her son without ever meaning to, in the way that many women find themselves picking up the responsibility for managing the lives of everyone who lives with them. She experiences the push-pull of wanting to do all the tasks that come with child-rearing but not wanting to be expected to take on all of them, all of the time.

She considers Western beauty standards and the fear that comes with ageing if you are a woman – yes, because you are closer to death, but also because you lose your power to hold the male gaze. And she talks about the ways we enact gender, pointing to her own reluctance to lose her "princess hair" and her admiration for Nikki's fortitude, having known as a child that she was someone other than she appeared to be.

Ultimately, Barnett comes to an acceptance with the middle phase of life in which she finds herself. "I remember how it was to feel and look younger, yet now I am not that person. In five years I will be different again. The present moment moves swiftly by and only in one direction. I watch it go. To try and grasp it would be as futile as grasping moving water."

This is a thoughtful, wise book that rewards patience. Take your time with it.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Michael Bennett's new novel, a remarkable post-colonial crime novel, is sure to feature on many critics' end-of-year best lists. The author discusses what inspired his new work, and why he admires books with both deep humanity and deep pain.Read the full story here.

JUST OUT

If you're a fan of literary crime thrillers, you can't go wrong with Melbourne-based New Zealand writer J.P. Pomare. Ian Rankin and Michael Robotham both count themselves as fans. In his latest, The Wrong Woman (Hachette, $37), a private investigator reluctantly returns to his hometown to investigate a car crash which is more complicated than it appears.

Tim Saunders runs the family sheep and cattle farm near Palmerston North. Under a Big Sky (Allen & Unwin, $37) is a follow-up to his 2020 book This Farming Life. In his new book he recounts how five generations of his family have worked the land – their challenges, triumphs and legacy.

Not strictly a new release, Amorangi and Millie's Trip Through Time, by Lauren Keenan (Huia, $26), came out in March – but it is up for an award in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults on August 10. Best of luck to all the finalists.

EXTRACT

Hundertwasser: 'His art and his buildings were gifts to humanity'

An extract from his book about artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Andreas Hirsch looks at beautiful paths along the spirals of life.Read the full story here.

5 QUICK QUESTIONS WITH MARIE CARDNO

Marie Cardno.

Marie Cardno is a pen name. Why use a pen name and is there any significance to this one?

Cardno is my mother's maiden name. I do other publishing work under my real name, so using a pen name for my writing allows me to create a mental and (sort of) practical separation between the two. I say "sort of" because, let's face it, it's not going to be too difficult for people to connect the dots.

This is your debut novel — tell us a little about what it took to get to this point?

I have been writing since I was a pre-teen — the customary dozens of false starts, many of them written and illustrated with clip art in Microsoft Creative Writer. I always lost interest, momentum and eventually the plot — if I'd ever managed to find one — somewhere between the opening description of my main character's jewel-toned eyes and chapter three. In 2015 I started writing seriously and in 2021 the short story How to Get a Girlfriend (When You're a Terrifying Monster) appeared in Her Magical Pet, a charity anthology raising money for OutRight Action International, which fights for the rights of LGBTIQ people worldwide. The short story was a finalist for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novella/Novelette. Once I started writing about Trillin and Sian, I didn't want to stop, and this expanded edition is what resulted.

How would you describe  How to Get a Girlfriend (When You're a Terrifying Monster)? And is this the beginning of a series?

How to Get a Girlfriend is a witchy rom-com — it's the story of a person who has only recently become a person, after untold eons of being a small part of a massive alien consciousness, and who decides the first thing she wants to do as a person is get to know the strange human who Steve Irwins her way into her world. I never intended it to have a sequel, which, of course, means I am currently working on one.

Witches are having a moment. What do you like about witches as characters?

There are so many ways of approaching witches in fiction. Do you play the tropes straight, subvert or reclaim them, or have your character say the hell with that, if they want a witch I'll give them a witch? What sort of abilities do they have and how do their abilities shape how they move in the world, and interact with other people? In fiction, the witches that stand out for me are Terry Pratchett's witches — fiercely humanist, selfishly heroic, in all their different ways — and the various witchy types in Diana Wynne Jones' books. The witches in How to Get a Girlfriend probably owe more to Wynne Jones' characters, with their very many, very human foibles, pettinesses and general propensity to rub one another up the wrong way. Mine have an extra helping of chaotic bullheadedness, the better for getting into scrapes.

Who is your ideal reader?

My ideal reader is one who is looking for something fun and light-hearted and is happy for things to take an immediate left turn into the weird and irreverent.

Marie Cardno's How to Get a Girlfriend When You're a Terrifying Monster (Paper Road Press, $20) is out now.